Empty Hue condo building closed until further notice

Hue, the empty multicolor condo building at Dawson and Hargett streets in downtown Raleigh, is closed until further notice.

Signs announcing the closure are posted on the building's doors. An answering machine message at the Hue's sales office also says it's closed.

None of Hue's 208 units have sold, according to property records.

After a lengthy reservation period that left some prospective buyers wondering what was going on, Hue finally began selling units in January.

As recently as April 19, Hue was posting information on its Web site asking people to come tour the building.

The project, which was developed by the Los Angeles company CityView along with Trammell Crow Residential, has been trying to qualify for government-back mortgage insurance programs to help with sales.

The project's application to be eligible for the Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance program is pending. Such approvals typically require at least half the units in a building be presold, but Hue was seeking a waiver.

Hue was also offering buyers the option of signing a contract and living in, and leasing, a unit until the building reaches the pre-sale requirement for the FHA mortgage insurance program.

Other perks being offered included a free washer, dryer, refrigerator and parking space.

Calls to CityView and John Butler, the sales manager for Hue, were not immediately returned.

Condo sales in downtown Raleigh have slowed to a crawl as lending has tightened and demand for the units has dropped.

Through the first four months of the year, 61 condos were sold inside the Beltline, according to Triangle Multiple Listing Services data.

That's 10 fewer than the number of units that sold during the first four months of 2009 when the housing market was in dismal shape.